After pulling out a hard-fought win last Thursday over Bowling Green to win its third straight District 14 championship, South Warren’s quest for a first-ever Region 4 title couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.
The Spartans, who lost to eventual regional champion Russell County in last year’s semifinal round, began play in the 2018 Girls’ Region 4 Tournament with a dominating 63-25 win over Todd County Central on Tuesday evening at Western Kentucky University’s E.A. Diddle Arena.
“We’ll take ‘em this time of the year,” South Warren coach Blane Embry said. “We didn’t take Todd County for granted. We prepared for them just like we prepared for anyone else. The girls come out here and stuck to the game plan and finally started making a few shots – and once we saw the ball go in a few times, that always gets us fired up pretty good.”
South Warren (30-3) led 28-9 after the opening quarter and later built a 49-19 lead at halftime. The Spartans held Todd County Central (14-15) scoreless in the third quarter and took a comfortable 60-19 advantage into the fourth and cruised to their 12th straight victory.
Natalie Pierce made four three-pointers and finished with a game-high 22 points on eight-of-16 shooting, while Jordan McDonald scored 11 and Amaya Lasley added 10. South Warren shot 41.3 percent from the field, outrebounded the Lady Rebels 45-31 and held them to just 11-of-45 shooting.
“We just wanted to come out strong and play as a team, take the shots we’ve been working on throughout the year and just keep it going,” McDonald said. “Just playing as a team and passing the ball well.”
With their win, the Spartans will now meet Glasgow at 8 p.m. Friday in the Region 4 semifinals.
Todd County Central kept it close for a little while, but then South Warren took total control.
The Spartans started hot and jumped out to a 10-3 lead before Todd County climbed back into it and cut its deficit to 10-7 at the 3:17 mark of the first quarter. South Warren responded by outscoring the Lady Rebels 18-2 throughout the remainder of the period to lead 28-9 after one.
“We play well as a team,” Pierce said. “We move the ball well and I think our defense tonight really helped full-court and I think we did good.”
South Warren continued to dominate in the second, as it built a 33-13 advantage at the 5:29 mark after Olivia Steele scored inside. Brooke Stevenson then hit back-to-back three-pointers to push the Spartans’ lead to 39-15, and they were later up 49-19 entering the locker room at halftime.
Pierce knocked down four threes in the opening half and already had 20 points at the break, while Lasley had scored 10. South Warren forced Todd County Central into 14 first-half turnovers and held it to 30.8 percent shooting from the field.
“We mixed defenses up quite a bit tonight and got to throw everything out there just to see,” Embry said. “This floor is 10 feet longer and you have to make that up at midcourt, and I told the girls they had to make a decision on what part of the court you pressure people on. We stayed in our area and that bothered them.”
The Spartans, on the other hand, went 20-of-41 from the floor over the course of the first two quarters.
South Warren maintained its comfortable lead throughout the second half, as it quickly pushed it to 56-19 at the 5:30 mark of the third quarter after McDonald scored five straight points.
Leading 60-19 after three quarters, the Spartans were able to cruise through the final eight minutes and earn their spot in the next round.
“We’re just trying to keep it up,” said McDonald. “Wins are great, but we want to work on getting past the semifinals and just keep it going as far as we can go.”
–Senior writer Tyler Mansfield can be reached at mansfield.sportingtimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @TMansfieldST.–
